Letter 470: The friendship of the powerful is pleasant, Atherious, but costly — and the cost is not always visible at the time...
Since you have written to me wondering that Eusebius, a disciple who sells sacred things and who holds the speech of the poor of no account, has not been rebuked and censured -- especially since the sermons about almsgiving that he has preached are so numerous -- hear this. He who said "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" also said: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" and "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." How then did he twist these to their opposite? Because all the things he had gathered he squandered in the same fashion, and thought it absurd, in his own judgment, to conceal his faith. And the patronage of the episcopate itself he used as a tool, saying "It is a noble work." And observe his wisdom, more excellent than any rhetoric. For he did not say "a noble work has been done," but "it is." For he does not set the doing before us, but rather the character of the one who acts -- as if he were saying: inasmuch as a person does this, it is worthy of praise and commendation. Wherefore we must seek perfect virtue with numbers, and with our efforts crown and weave it. For if he has approved the practice, then surely everyone, if they were to follow the example, would need to proclaim these things.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
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